Prosumer communities as strategic allies for electric utilities : exploring future decentralization trends in Switzerland

A prosumer community is a group of households that are organized together to consume energy from a common decentralized generation system such as solar photovoltaic (PV). The development of prosumer communities poses a threat to electric utilities, which currently apply a business model for centralized generation, sales and distribution of electricity. This study uses a System Dynamics simulation approach to analyze the various factors influencing the diffusion of “prosumer communities”, based on a case study in Switzerland, and provides insights into potential business opportunities for electric utilities in managing this transition challenge